Lord of the Ringtones

Are we addicted to our gadgets? Have iPods become our igods? I was struck by this article on a few levels... and I'm not gonna lie, at first glance, we were nervousss, preciousss... that they wanted to take it from usss, preciousss!

The main point addressed was captured here: So, the answer seems simple: Like the One Ring, mobile electronic devices are too powerful for mere mortals to wield without corruption. They inevitably lead to disturbance, disruption, and disaster. Or do they? ... On the spiritual side, anyone can reference prayers, sacred texts (in the traditional sense), and fellowship with co-believers anytime, anywhere. (One of us spent the Jewish holiday of Purim tracking the reading of the scroll of Esther on his iPhone, complete with special noise-making software. The other enjoyed Lenten prayers using this iPhone app.)

Hmmmm... read on!

The Boy Who Saved Us

God sure knew what He was doing when He decided that the human species would be able to procreate and raise little humans. For one thing, I see it as His ingenious way of getting the male component outside of their own heads once and for all. Ladies, I imagine you need sweet liberation from your own mental gymnastics of self-seeking fulfillment too, from time to time.

I have discovered that babies have the potential to pull the selfless out of the selfish. When you become a Mommy or a Daddy, powers are unleashed that could not have been extracted in any other way, except perhaps through some great trauma or suffering or epiphany. It's amazing, exhausting, exhilarating.... "It is life nearest the bone where it is sweetest."

Our nearly 9 month old baby boy continues to astound, capture, and captivate our hearts on a daily basis. We wake and walk the halls at 3am, and love it. We hear him cry and we run to him. He poops, or should I say explodes, and we think, get this, that it's cute. And we want to clean it up. We sing to him all day long, and Daddy, over-productive, always reading, writing, e-mailing, planning, or presenting Daddy has been wasting time, squandering time, spilling out time doing nothing (read here everything) with his son. Including making random YouTube videos of his antics... The Boy Wonder discovers the Blues!

Rebecca and I look back at the now seemingly short 5 years of infertility that began our marriage; the days of waiting and longing for a life to share our life with, of the periods when literally everyone we knew was pregnant, or holding a little one in their arms. Our days of seeking help, of discovering adoption at the embryonic level, of Snowflakes, of more sorrows, of miscarriages and then moments with our little Gracie, so sweet and so sad and so short-lived. We were in the Barren Desert, again and again. We were trying hard not to grasp at children as if they were a right. We still hold fast to the truth that all life is a gift, and the timing is in God's time.

That time is now! Now this most unexpected gift of our son has come! And the years dissipate like thin wisps of mourning mist. And the years of "just us" (which in itself was so full and so rich) has only served to heighten our senses and sensitivities to this Small Wonder of a Boy. Every smile, every giggle, every tear, every thing is a grace. So God surely knows and knew what He was doing. We just had to wait it out, and will again in some new form down the road, I'm sure. I just hope we remember the simple truth that "good things come to those who wait."

And that, my friends, is the understatement of the year!

Moral Theologian Says Christopher West's Work is 'Completely Sound'

Dr. Janet Smith holds the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. In her article at CatholicExchange.com, she responds to Dr. David Schindler's critique of Christopher West's approach to the Theology of the Body. For his article, click here. For the origin of this debate, click here!

Here, I want to offer a brief, partial, response to Prof. David Schindler’s assessment of West’s work. The fact that Nightline got a lot wrong about West’s work is not surprising. In fact, it is surprising how much it got right. Those of us who work with the media know that potential martyrdom awaits us at the hands of an editor. West has likely been suffering a kind of crucifixion over the past week. What is puzzling is that an influential scholar chose this moment to issue a weeping, negative critique of West in such a public forum. I have great respect for the work and thought of Schindler and realize that it must be difficult to be on the receiving end of criticisms of the work of one of their most high profile graduates. I wish, however, he had found another occasion to express his reservations about West’s work.... (continue reading)

For the latest response from Dr. Michael Waldstein, click here. He is the Max Seckler Professor of Theology at Ave Maria University. He previously served as founding president of the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria, and was the St. Francis of Assisi Professor of New Testament there. He is a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family and is a Distinguished Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He holds the degrees of B.A. from Thomas Aquinas College in California, Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Dallas, S.S.L. from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and a Th.D. in New Testament from Harvard Divinity School. His published works include his definitive translation of John Paul II's Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, The Common Good in St. Thomas and John Paul II (Nova et Vetera), and Dietrich von Hildebrand and St. Thomas Aquinas on Goodness and Happiness (Nova et Vetera).

The Promise

Remembering Your touch, your kiss Your warm embrace I'll find my way back to you If you'll be waiting...

Think of times in your life you've waited for Love's reply. Will the call come, will the heart respond to mine, will that face I've longed for turn the bend and come to me, turn her face and look on me.

I've longed for you and I have desired To see your face your smile To be with you wherever you are

Waiting.... hoping, and with it comes such a surge of emotion, tied inseparably to the deepest cords of the soul (for our bodies and souls are one). Longing not just for the physical sensation of nearness, but for the mystical, the spiritual, the infinite of which human love touches only the hem.

These days before Pentecost are the days of waiting, this is the age of the Holy Spirit... remembering those expectant hearts of those ancient men and women of Israel; Peter, John, Mary, James. Seeing them, hearing them; warm breath, beating hearts, fearful, clustered together like birds in shadows.

"Wait...." Jesus had said. This is all they knew to do. Not knowing they lie at the turning point of human history, those happy few, soon to be quickened by the Breath of Divinity and numbering in the billions! Here at the embryonic level, the Mystical Body of Christ was sewn together again by the grace of God through the Virgin of Galilee; this Body of believers was "knit together in its Mother's womb." For Mary knew about waiting, about being open to receive the Holy Spirit.

Together again It would feel so good to be In your arms Where all my journeys end If you can make a promise

If it's one that you can keep,

I vow to come for you If you wait for me and say you'll hold A place for me in your heart.

Let's look up as the Wind builds and the Flames gather on the eastern rim of the world. A Divine Heart is beating, ageless as the sea, coming with Water and Fire and Wind to wash, burn and break over us again. That's the Promise...

Play Me

(This is my latest post from Twisted Mystics! Hope you like) OK, I know that when you first saw this dazzling pic of Neil in his technicolor dreamcoat, you were tempted to go and google the etymology of "cheese" or something; anything rather than consider that Neil Diamond might have something deep to say to you today. Maybe you thought "Twisted Mystics" was about young hipsters, youth in angst, or mainstream rockers and rollers. Well it's time to broaden them horizons! I was first introduced to Neil as a young lad, through the big, bulky "Jazz Singer" soundtrack my mother owned on an 8 track tape. Those tapes were awesome and could double as coasters, or a hammer if you were desperate and really needed to hang that painting. Anyhoo, back to Neil. Let's take the following words and set them into the mouths of lovers... of a husband and wife. This is what we do here at Twisted Mystics; we transpose. We find the theme and set it to a theological melody. We take a rambling branch and graft it to the Divine Vine from which all branches break forth. She was morning And I was night time I one day woke up To find her lying Beside my bed I softly said "Come take me" For I've been lonely In need of someone As though I'd done Someone wrong somewhere but I don't know where Come lately You are the sun I am the moon You are the words I am the tune Play me Ah the Cosmic Dance of masculine and feminine! "She was morning... and I was night time." It's common knowledge that men and women are different. Common knowledge but commonly misunderstood, or seen as some kind of obstacle ("the battle of the sexes"). Today, there also appears to be a great effort to level the playing field.... to asexualize our sexuality and invite people to "pick" which one they want, as if from scratch. But if we scratch below the surface, we discover an extremely damaging agenda here. In the olden days (before Neil Diamond) people used to conform themselves to reality. This is a very sane thing to do. Today we are insane. We try to conform reality unto us. Rather than discover in our creation as male and female something of the mystery of God's image and likeness, we determine that we will make ourselves after our own image and likeness. The problem with this is, aside from a cosmic arrogance, we don't have a clue as to who we are. "When we lose sight of the Creator, the creature vanishes," so spoke Vatican Council II. Our origins, revealed in Genesis, tell us so much about what masculinity is and what femininity is, if we could but sit still and listen. The mythic elements (not myths) in Genesis speak of man being formed from the earth, with Spirit (God's ruah in Hebrew, breath) whispered into us. Is this why men seem to be more independent, detached, more comfortable beingalone, distant at times? But in all our land-locked travels, we long to return to the heart. For I've been lonely In need of someone As though I'd done Someone wrong somewhere but I don't know where Men, despite the sometimes tough exterior, long to be in love, lost in it, we long to swim in an ocean that is deep and mysterious. That ocean is made from us, flows from us, flows to us from God.... and from Woman. Then God took a rib from Adam, and formed from his side Woman. The “first man and the first woman must constitute ...the model... for all men and women who, in any period, are united so intimately as to be ‘one flesh’”- Pope John Paul II, TOB, 50). In Hebrew, the rib bespeaks the whole person. Bone is emblematic of the whole body, the whole person. Woman then is formed from the side of a rational human person. Is this why women tend, generally speaking, to be more relational, intuitive, contemplative, nurturing, gentle, emotional? Songs she sang to me Songs she brang to me Words that rang in me Rhyme that sprang from me Warmed the night And what was right Became me Men and women were never meant to clash with but to complement each other. Sin is at the root of this conflict. And so the remedy to the poison brought by the first Adam and Eve, is revealed in the gift of the new Adam and Eve. Never has there been a duet more beautifully sung than that of Jesus and Mary. In their words we learn how to untwist all of our twisted ramblings. For He is the Sun, and she is the Moon, He is the Word and she is the Tune... And so it wasThat I came to travel Upon a road That was thorned and narrow Another place Another grace Would save me

Wicked Good

Good and Evil. Remember them? Many believe they were invented by theologians in the Middle Ages and later popularized by animated angels and demons on the shoulders of cartoons and comedic actors. But check this out: they are really real, and really old, and always present to the soul in every choice.

But we live in an age where words like Good and Evil just sound so.... awkward. They are so glaringly crisp; their edges so.... sharp. We prefer a nice dulled handle on things today, don't we? Something curvy and cushy; kind of like a "sport grip" that contours to our particular touch. "Oooo, nice. This works for me!"

This talk of things being objectively Good or Evil just feels so heavy in the hand, so cold to the touch, like the hilt of a sword. We like things to "give a little" today. Now call me crazy but I have this sense that we're dead wrong here (oops, another awkward word... I mean non-right). I think western civilization is up to its neck in a quicksand of relativity. We're just looking at each other saying "Isn't it nice and warm in here? So niiiice!" as we slouch deeper into a Quagmire of Comfortability. Soon we'll completely lose our heads in this quicksand. Many already have it seems.

Am I being judgmental? Heck yes I am. We have to make judgments all the time. It's not a dirty word. When approaching quicksand my reason dictates that walking on it would be a poor judgment, because we're made to walk on solid ground. The solid earth, like everything in nature, is meant to remind us of its supernatural counterpart - the moral universe. Right and Wrong, Good and Evil.

We must do the Good, we must walk in its Way, and trying to negate it only creates dead air. It removes the bridge and leaves an infinite abyss. We must make solid choices again, simply because they are Good. They are True. We must steer clear of certain places and situations today because they are Evil or Wicked. Decisions must be made not just because they "make me happy" but rather because than make me holy. Not just because they feel good, but because they are Good.

At the end of the day, let's remember (or discover) that this objective truth about the Good is not an enemy, but a remedy. Objective truth actually corresponds to the deepest yearnings of our subjective experiences. And although it may take awhile to get our "land legs" back after living on this sea of relativity, every solid step we take takes us closer to the deepest peace. And that peace is a GOOD thing.

Vatican Meets iPhone

As a Catholic Nerd with an iPhone, I am very excited about what's coming this Sunday, in honor of this year's World Communications Day.... check it out here. If this doesn't justify you making the switch to the world's greatest phone / ipod / game device / calendar / internet browser / e-mail / camera / mosquito repellent (yes, there's an app for that), than I don't know WHAT will. Here's the snazzy new website the Vatican has just launched.

"The site and its applications were developed by Italian Father Paolo Padrini, a diocesan priest from Tortona. He also helped develop the iBreviary application for the iPhone and the Catholic Facebook application called Praybook, which allows users to access and share with others traditional Catholic prayers and texts from the Liturgy of the Hours."

- from the CNS article "I would like to conclude this message by addressing myself, in particular, to young Catholic believers: to encourage them to bring the witness of their faith to the digital world."

- Pope Benedict XVI