Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 38
July 28, 2015
Denethor’s Ghost: Lessons from "Lord of the Rings"
A scene from Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", depicting the character Denethor. (Wikipedia/Photo by Pierre Vinet - © 2003 - New Line Productions)
Denethor’s Ghost: Lessons from "Lord of the Rings" | Thomas M. Doran| Thomas Doran | CWR blog
Can a story about wizards, elves, dwarves, and goblins teach 21st century believers something that Catholic apologetics, devotional books, and reasoned arguments can’t?
21st century Catholicism is up against it, not the first time in history but the first time for many living Catholics. The glorification of the lesbian-gay-transgender lifestyle is the newest commandment of the new religion of the land, and any objections make you a bigot, and sometimes a pariah. There are fewer abortions, but the “right to choose” is still the entrenched law of the land, and euthanasia is gaining greater public acceptance. Gluttonous consumerism has many admirers. The ghetto-izing of traditional Christian beliefs is underway. Human life keeps getting cheaper and cheaper, at least those human lives that are less equal than others, as George Orwell might say. Even Atticus Finch has gone off the rails.
In response, many Christians think that the only options are retreat, resignation, or rebellion.
Can a story like The Lord of The Rings teach us anything important about humanity’s present age and Catholicism’s present challenges? Lest we think that he was just an ivory tower storyteller, J. R. R. Tolkien lived through two terrible wars where the lust for power threatened to destroy the world, with Tolkien experiencing World War I firsthand in the European trenches. Because we moderns know that the world and liberty weren’t utterly destroyed in these wars, we forget that victory was by no means certain to those who lived through those cataclysmic years, with many, like Denethor in Tolkien’s story, succumbing to hopelessness or the accommodation of evil.
Though Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, and Aragorn are inspiring characters, the most instructive characters for our age are Denethor and his son, Faramir.
Tolkien’s Denethor ruled the chief city in Middle Earth. Though ostensibly a steward awaiting the return of the rightful king, so many centuries had passed since the city had a king that Denethor ruled as king and considered himself as such. Steeped in pride, he told himself that he was strong-minded enough to gaze into a Palantir, a seeing stone that revealed events far and wide. Unfortunately, Sauron was the lord of the Palantiri, and he gripped Denethor’s mind and twisted it, showing the Steward exactly what he wanted him to see—Sauron’s irresistible power, the devastation his armies were inflicting, the weakness and fickleness of his enemies. Thus, the combination of Denethor’s pride and his lust to use Sauron’s own devices against him drove the Steward to despondency and madness. “The Enemy has found it (the One Ring), and now his power waxes; he sees our very thoughts, and all we do is ruinous…Pride and despair,” he (Denethor) cried. “Didst thou think that the eyes of the White Tower (Minas Tirith) were blind? Nay, I have seen more than thou knowest, Grey Fool (Gandalf). For thy hope is but ignorance. Go then and labor in healing! Go forth and fight! Vanity. For a little space you may triumph on the field, for a day. But against the Power that arises there is no victory. To this City only the first finger of its hand has yet been stretched. All the East is moving. And even now the wind of thy hope cheats thee and wafts up Anduin a fleet of black sails. The West has failed. It is time for all to depart who would not be slaves.”
See how his mind has been turned to despair?
July 26, 2015
The feeding of the five thousand was just the beginning
"The Feeding of the Five Thousand" (1886) by James Tissot [WikiArt.org]
A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, July 26, 2015 | Carl E. Olson
Readings:
• 2 Kgs 4:42-44
• Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18
• Eph 4:1-6
• Jn 6:1-15
“Such was the greatness of his miracle that he willed the slender supply of food not only to be enough but even to prove superabundant. Here he followed ancient precedent.” The early Christian writer and theologian, Tertullian, in writing of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes by Jesus, referred back to the miracle performed by the prophet Elijah for the widow of Zarephath (1Kng 17:17-24). He could have also (as did other early writers and Fathers) referred to the miracle performed by Elisha, the successor of Elijah, who multiplied “twenty barley loaves from the first fruits”, as we hear in today’s first reading.
Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and fishes was indeed meant to bring to mind the great deeds of the past prophets. We should keep in mind that the Old Testament prophets did not only speak with words, but with actions. And the miracle of food increased and abounding so that some was left over foreshadowed the work of a greater prophet to come, a prophet who would not only offer natural food in unexpected fashion, but would also offer supernatural food in an even more stunning manner.
Today’s Gospel is the first of five successive readings from the sixth chapter of the Fourth Gospel, a chapter that is long (71 verses in all), brilliantly constructed, and filled with endless theological and spiritual riches. It says something about the mind-boggling, even shocking, teachings within it that the miracle of the loaves and fishes—dare I say it?—seems almost ordinary.
Of course, there was nothing ordinary about it at all, for it further revealed Jesus’ identity to the people: “When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, ‘This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.’” The Jewish people anticipated a return of Elijah, based in part on the prophet Malachi, “Behold, I will send you Eli'jah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes” (Mal 4:5). The obvious similarities between the miracles of Elijah and Elisha and the signs performed by Jesus spurred speculation that the mysterious miracle worker from Nazareth was Elijah himself (cf. Matt 16:13-14).
But the miracle on the mountain was just the beginning; it was, so to speak, a presentation of credentials. It made the people sit up and pay attention. And once they were paying attention, Jesus began to present the amazing teachings we will hear in the next four Sundays. This pattern is one found throughout the Gospel of John: Jesus begins with a physical object or event, such as birth or water or bread and fishes, and uses it as a springboard into deep spiritual truths. Think, for example of Nicodemus (Jn. 3) or the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn. 4). Not surprisingly, these truths often have to do with the sacraments; in the case of John 6, of course, it is the sacrament of the Eucharist.
A hint of things to come is found in the timing of the feeding of the multitudes: “The Jewish feast of the Passover was near.” The Passover was the solemn ceremony in remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, a defining moment in Jewish history. It involved the sacrifice of unblemished lambs in the Temple, the eating of unleavened bread, and the remembrance of liberation from oppression, slavery, and evil. During the first Passover described in the Fourth Gospel, Jesus cleared the Temple and prophecied of his death and resurrection (Jn 2:19-22). The third Passover, of course, was when Jesus was arrested, tried and crucified (Jn. 19:14).
During the second Passover, as we will see in two weeks, Jesus spoke again about his death and resurrection (6:51). But he first spoke through the act of multiplying food. “Thanks be to him,” wrote St. Augustine of that moment. “He fulfilled through himself what was promised in the Old Testament.” And further fulfillments were still to come!
(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the July 29, 2012, edition of Our Sunday Visitor.)
July 25, 2015
New: "Othello: Ignatius Critical Editions"
Now available from Ignatius Press:
Othello: Ignatius Critical Editions
by William Shakespeare | Editor:Joseph Pearce
Paperback, 312 pages
One of the four great tragedies—alongside Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth–Othello is among the darkest of Shakespeare's plays, illumining the shadows of the gloomiest recesses of the human psyche and serving as a damning indictment of the world in which it was written.
A cautionary tale of the destructiveness of sin and the ruinous consequences of bad philosophy, Othello seems to express Shakespeare's rage at the cynicism and brutality of the age in which he lived. From the Machiavellian menace of Iago to the blind and prideful jealousy of Othello, this classic of world literature shows us the shadow falling over a society that has turned its back on the light and life of virtue.
A look at the essays:
• "'A Monstrous Birth' Brought 'to the World's Light': The Assault on Authority and the Darkening of the Soul in Othello" – Robert Carballo
• "Is Venice in Shakespeare's Othello a Racist Society?" – Robert C. Evans
• "The Unreason of Iago: A Close Reading of the Beginning of Othello" – Jay Graham
• "Some Observations on Othello, Act 1" – Michael Hanke
• "Shakespeare's Othello and Man's Fallen Nature" – Michael M. Jordan
• "Othello as Meta-Drama" – Peter Milward, S.J.
• "Othello—the Classical-Medieval Synthesis, and the Platonic Concept of the Soul" – Rebecca Munro
Joseph Pearce situates the reader with the introductory essay.
July 23, 2015
The Pope and the Animator
The Pope and the Animator | John Herreid | IPNovels.com
What the films of Hayao Miyazaki can reveal about Laudato Si’
“The aesthetic of the Pope’s reflections (on the tension between man and nature, the tendency of man to use technology to dominate others and the environment, and the ideal of an integral ecology) remind me of the films of Hayao Miyazaki. I think Miyazaki explores similar themes, although from a very different perspective.”
That’s what my wife Aletheia posted online after starting to read Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. But how much in common do the views of a Japanese animator and an Argentinian pontiff really have? Let’s take a look.
Who is Hayao Miyazaki?
Japanese animation was regarded in the West for many years as exemplifying cheapness. To cut costs, American animation studios would outsource to Japan. A number of Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s and 1980s were animated in this way, with fairly uninspiring storylines and pedestrian animation. One of the people who would help change all this was a young animator named Hayao Miyazaki. Cutting his teeth working on different series, he quickly rose to director status. Early work included the first half-dozen episodes of Sherlock Hound, an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective stories recast with animals, featuring glimpses of what would become Miyazaki’s visual hallmark: inventive depictions of fantastic machinery set against a bucolic environment.
When Hayao Miyazaki was a small child his father ran a factory making parts for war planes, including rudders for the famed Mitsubishi Zero. The contrast between the beauty of flight and the destructive power of such weaponry seems to have made a large impact on Miyazaki’s perception of the world. A recurring theme in his animated films is how men and women are easily seduced into thinking they can control nature via technology. In Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, people try to use a genetically modified giant to eradicate a threat. InPrincess Mononoke, the industrialist Lady Eboshi attempts to kill a forest spirit who threatens her ironworks. In both cases powers beyond man’s control are unleashed.
Another theme is how selfish choices have an impact beyond the individual, and how finding an adult path in life cannot come through acts of rebellion.
The Pope and the Animator | John Herreid | IPNovels.com...
The Pope and the Animator | John Herreid | IPNovels.com
What the films of Hayao Miyazaki can reveal about Laudato Si’
“The aesthetic of the Pope’s reflections (on the tension between man and nature, the tendency of man to use technology to dominate others and the environment, and the ideal of an integral ecology) remind me of the films of Hayao Miyazaki. I think Miyazaki explores similar themes, although from a very different perspective.”
That’s what my wife Aletheia posted online after starting to read Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. But how much in common do the views of a Japanese animator and an Argentinian pontiff really have? Let’s take a look.
Who is Hayao Miyazaki?
Japanese animation was regarded in the West for many years as exemplifying cheapness. To cut costs, American animation studios would outsource to Japan. A number of Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s and 1980s were animated in this way, with fairly uninspiring storylines and pedestrian animation. One of the people who would help change all this was a young animator named Hayao Miyazaki. Cutting his teeth working on different series, he quickly rose to director status. Early work included the first half-dozen episodes of Sherlock Hound, an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective stories recast with animals, featuring glimpses of what would become Miyazaki’s visual hallmark: inventive depictions of fantastic machinery set against a bucolic environment.
When Hayao Miyazaki was a small child his father ran a factory making parts for war planes, including rudders for the famed Mitsubishi Zero. The contrast between the beauty of flight and the destructive power of such weaponry seems to have made a large impact on Miyazaki’s perception of the world. A recurring theme in his animated films is how men and women are easily seduced into thinking they can control nature via technology. In Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, people try to use a genetically modified giant to eradicate a threat. InPrincess Mononoke, the industrialist Lady Eboshi attempts to kill a forest spirit who threatens her ironworks. In both cases powers beyond man’s control are unleashed.
Another theme is how selfish choices have an impact beyond the individual, and how finding an adult path in life cannot come through acts of rebellion.
July 22, 2015
A Fuller Reading of “The Fellowship”
A Fuller Reading of “The Fellowship” | Holly Ordway | CWR
As an intellectual biography and an account of the Inklings as a whole, Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski's new book is very strong—satisfying, engaging, and nuanced
J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams: two of these men are, if not exactly household names, nearly so—who has not heard of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings?. But what about the group called the Inklings; who were they? Why did they matter in wartime Oxford? Do they matter now, in the 21st century?
The Fellowship, Philip and Carol Zaleski’s group biography of the Inklings—the first fully developed one since Humphrey Carpenter’s pioneering study of 1978—sets out to answer these questions. It is the first of three new Inklings-related biographies slated to be published this year, the other two being Grevel Lindop’s Charles Williams: The Third Inkling and Abigail Santamaria’s Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis. The Zaleskis’ book is to be welcomed for giving us a broad-based, big-picture view of this hugely important circle of writers. It wisely does not attempt to displace Diana Glyer’s magisterial study of intra-Inklings influence in The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community.
The Zaleskis’ overall approach is usefully set out in the title: The Fellowship evokes the Fellowship of the Ring, from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Like the varied members of that group—hobbits, men, a dwarf, an elf, a wizard—the Inklings were quite different from one another in their personalities, their literary work, their personal lives, and their faith, and yet shared certain elements of a common vision.
The subtitle, “The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams”, shows the book’s particular concerns. The Zaleskis focus on the Inklings’ writing careers, while painting the broader biographical background in enough detail for us to see how their literary works fit into the larger pattern of their lives and relationships. And, in addition to having this literary slant, the book homes in on just four out of the nineteen figures who are generally reckoned to have belonged to the group.
By following these four men chronologically, The Fellowship illuminates how the different strands of their lives intertwined. Seeing their literary interests in the broader context of historical events, work, and family provides insight into their books and to the significance of the Inklings as a whole. The Fellowship also shows, as a quiet but consistent background note, the importance of certain other key Inklings, above all Lewis’s brother Warnie—himself a successful author—whose quiet hospitality was a central element of the group’s success. Likewise, we see the importance of Tolkien’s son Christopher, a junior Inkling, who has famously gone on to do wonders in preserving and extending his father’s literary legacy. These glimpses of Warnie and Christopher, among others, suggest the need for another book, on the Minor Inklings!
Attentive readers will notice that Tolkien is—somewhat unexpectedly—listed first in the subtitle.
When Machines Are Wiser than their Programmers
(us.fotolia.com | agsandrew)
When Machines Are Wiser than their Programmers | Dr. R. Jared Staudt | CWR
How do we decide on how to program computers when we don’t know how to live our own lives?
Sci-fi is now reality. The rapid growth of artificial intelligence truly baffles the mind, though not the imagination. Long envisioned in fiction, the creation of “intelligent” computers has arrived and not just for research purposes. Projects are underway to entrust transportation, commerce, and even warfare into the hands of autonomous robots.
In the growth of artificial intelligence one key question emerges. How do we judge the morality of robotic choices? This of course only intensifies the debate about human morality itself. In order to program morality one must understand the nature of morality. Materialists envision morality solely in terms of the mechanics of the brain and thus envision replicating this material process in computers. If the essence of morality resides in our spiritual soul (even if working through the material brain) then it would be impossible to replicate a moral sense or conscience.
The attempt to replicate morality became apparent recently in a project at Google. In a “conversation” with an “intelligent” computer the following dialogue emerged, which reveals the heart of the controversy:
July 20, 2015
Exclusive Sneak Peak Into One Of Our Most Important Fall Titles!
An Exclusive Sneak Peak
Into One Of Our Most Important Upcoming Titles!
Coming August 2015!
Living the Truth in Love
Edited by Janet Smith and Fr. Paul Check
Softcover, 360 pages, $24.95
Living the Truth in Love grew out of the desire to provide answers to the questions posed for the Synod on Marriage called by Pope Francis:
How can the Christian community give pastoral attention to families with persons with same-sex attraction?
While avoiding any unjust discrimination, how can the Church give such persons pastoral care in light of the Gospel?
How can God's will be proposed to them in their situation?
"Living the Truth in Love is a courageous, sincere, and timely book..."
— Sean Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston
"...For many people this book can be life-changing. For those who serve in the Church’s ministry, it will be indispensable."
— Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C.
"This is a deeply serious response to Pope Francis' call to the Church to engage the crisis of the family in all its dimensions and a critically important contribution to one of the great pastoral challenges facing the New Evangelization."
— George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Don't Miss This Important Upcoming Conference Featuring Speakers --
Janet Smith and Fr. Paul Check
Welcoming and Accompanying
Our Brothers and Sisters
with Same-Sex Attraction
------------------------
August 10-12, 2015
Inn at St. John’s, Plymouth, Michigan
An international conference to designed for bishops, priests, religious, school superintendents, diocesan personnel who minister to those with same-sex attraction and for all those who want to be welcoming and to accompany those who have SSA.
For more details see the flyer or visit www.couragerc.org
Copyright © 2015 Ignatius Press, All rights reserved.
Share
Tweet
Forward
July 19, 2015
The Lord is my Shepherd
(us.fotolia.com | onneur)
A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, July 19, 2015 | Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Carl E. Olson
Readings:
• Jer 23:1-6
• Psa 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
• Eph 2:13-18
• Mk 6:30-34
Today’s Gospel is the sort of short reading that can easily be overlooked, because of its length and because it marks a swift transition between the sending of the twelve “out two by two” (Mk 6:7-13) and the dramatic account of the feeding of the five thousand (Mk 6:30-43). There is also the lengthy and moving story of the murder of John the Baptist (vs. 14-29), which provides a palpable sense of the dangers facing Jesus and his followers.
Yet these five verses (30-34) are filled with important information about the relationship between the apostles and Jesus, as well as between Jesus and the people, described here as “the vast crowd”. Notably, this is the only place in Mark’s Gospel in which the twelve are identified as “the apostles”. An apostle (“apostolos”, in Greek) is one who is sent forth by someone with authority in order to be a representative or ambassador for that particular person. In the New Testament, it refers to a distinctive office instituted by Jesus.
The apostles were men chosen by Jesus, and those men were direct witnesses to the person and power of their Lord. And so it is fitting they are not identified as such witnesses until after they had, in fact, spent time witnessing by preaching repentance, casting out demons, and healing the sick.
The apostles, having been given authority by Jesus, gathered together with him to report “all they done and taught.” They had a responsibility to answer directly to Christ. Likewise, as bishops they would continue to be accountable to Christ and to the Petrine office established upon Peter the Rock (Matt 16:16-20), a responsibility placed upon each and every bishop throughout the history of the Church.
This is directly connected to Jesus being the Good Shepherd, whose heart is moved with pity for the vast crowds that followed him. The relationship between sheep and shepherd is one mentioned often the Old Testament, sometimes referring to the relationship between the people and their leaders, and sometimes between the people and God. In Genesis, God is described as “the Shepherd” (Gen. 49:24); there are many references to the people of Israel as being sheep without a shepherd or master (1 Kng. 22:17; 2 Chr. 18:16). This theme is developed at length by many of the prophets, most notably Ezekiel and Jeremiah.
For example, Ezekiel 34 is a long condemnation of corrupt, sinful leaders—both religious and civil—who proved to be unworthy shepherds. Today’s reading from Jeremiah is a strong condemnation of those who failed to protect and care for the people: “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture … You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.”
Jeremiah prophesied of a coming day when God would gather “a remnant” of his flock, appointing good and holy men “who will “shepherd them.” The twelve apostles were the beginning of that flock. Notice that after they had performed the difficult work of preaching and witnessing, Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” This rest was not only physical rest, but spiritual restoration. While the desert and wilderness could be a place of testing and trial, it was also a place of solitude and revival when accompanied by God (cf. Ex 33:14; Heb 4:9-11).
Each of us—whether you are a bishop, priest, religious, or lay person—need rest from the cares of the world and time spent in quiet solitude with God. “The mind of man is incapable of perceiving the truth clearly,” wrote St. Basil the Great, “if it is distracted by innumerable worldly cares.”
In Christ, as the Apostle Paul teaches, lasting peace is realized and granted. As King David expressed so beautifully: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” The good and divine shepherd, Jesus Christ, guides us, protects us, feeds us, and gives us peace.
(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the July 22, 2012 edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)
July 16, 2015
New: "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen | Ignatius Critical Editions
Now available from Ignatius Press:
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen | Ignatius Critical Editions
Paperback, 496 pages | Editor: Eleanor Bourg Nicholson
"All that can be said of one's happiness depending entirely on any particular person, it is not meant—it is not fit—it is not possible that it should be so."
What are two sisters of uncertain fortunes to do when the death of their father exiles their family to live in the countryside of southwestern England? Why, fall in love, of course! Through her deft unraveling of the dramatically different romantic fates of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, Jane Austen displays her singular mastery of the English language and her equally masterful invention of colorful and realistic characters.
The author's appreciation of what it is to be human, grounded in her deeply convicted Christianity, illuminates the tale with special wisdom. In this, her first published novel, we see the sense and sensibility of Miss Austen herself, which combine to form the brilliance that shines forth in all of her works—a brilliance enlivened by her remarkable sense of humor and the affectionate kindness that could only be born of a gracious Christian spirit.
A look at the essays:
"'Everything in Such Suspense and Uncertainty'—Suspense in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility" – Raimund Borgmeier
"The Indulgence of Sense and Sensibility: A Human Comedy" – Crystal Downing
"'Esteem': The Enduring Foundation of Marriage in Sense and Sensibility" – Mitchell Kalpakgian
"Why Edward Ferrars Doesn't Dance" – Theresa Kenney
"Marriage in Jane Austen's England: Some Context for the Courtships in Sense and Sensibility" – Jennifer Overkamp
"Marianne's Folly and the Rule of Propriety in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility" – Jack Trotter
Eleanor Bourg Nicholson situates the reader with the introductory essay.
Carl E. Olson's Blog
- Carl E. Olson's profile
- 20 followers
