Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 329

Shea on Heresy

The Dark Lord Shea-u-man gets ranting here about the sterility of heresy and quotes GKC. I like Mark Shea. I wish he lived close by. I think we'd get on.[image error]

Twittering

I'm enjoying Twitter so far. I try to tweet three of four times a day. 135 people follow my tweets so far. Why not join in, join up, follow...whatever. Click the link in the right side bar.



Beginning in Advent I am going to start uploading my homilies from Our Lady of the Rosary again. These will be available as download-podcasts.[image error]

Three Foundations for Sacred Architecture

Go here for my latest article for National Catholic Register--Three foundations for sacred architecture. The three foundations are proportions, integrity and honesty. These are the philosophical foundations used in the design of our new church at Our Lady of the Rosary parish. Go here for more information about this exciting new church building project.[image error]

Shocking Shepherd

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The gospel today is the parable of the Good Shepherd who, having lost one sheep, leaves the ninety nine and goes to find the lost sheep, and brings him home on his shoulders.



The traditional image is of the gentle good shepherd, with perhaps a tear in his eye, giving the poor lost lamb a lovely cozy cuddle as they wander home together.



However, another more shocking image is given by those who have studied the working methods of first century Palestinian shepherds. They say that the shepherd would correct a wandering lamb by breaking it's leg. That way it wouldn't wander off again--indeed, couldn't wander off again. The shepherd did this not only to discipline the lamb, but to protect him, since to wander off would make him vulnerable to the wolves.



This may be shocking to those who cherish the image of the gentle good shepherd have a sweet little canoodle with the cuddly little lamb, but whether it is factual or not (and I am no expert on first century livestock handling) it somehow rings true to the rest of the image of Jesus in the gospel. That is to say, Aslan is not a tame lion. Jesus is our friend, but he is also the dread judge of all. His loving mercy is tender, but it is also sometimes severe.



Maybe he has allowed that dark spot in our lives, that sore point of suffering, that seemingly inexplicable non-answer to prayer, that difficult relationship, that perennial weakness, that seemingly absurd suffering as the 'broken leg' that keep us close to home and close to Him.

Night of the Hunter

Keep your whining victim feminists and for a strong woman give me Lillian Gish in The Night of the Hunter--which I finally watched for the first time last night. The film really is a masterpiece, not only for the stylish and dramatic black and white expressionistic cinematography, but most of all for the moral heart of the film. Lillian Gish plays a tough, warm hearted West Virginia woman who takes in waifs and strays. She spots Robert Mitchum's serial killer phoney preacher a mile off and keeps him at bay with a beady eye and a shotgun.



There are so many strongly Christian themes in this classic. Lillian Gish who is tough on the outside and tender on the inside contrasts with the aptly named Icey Spoon--the woman who oozes religious sentiment and falls head over heels for the con man Powell. Her sentimentalism--letting him into their lives--leads to murder and abuse. Her weak husband stands by and allows her to dominate and manipulate the scene, and while she appears to be sweet and religious she speaks her real mind at the church picnic where she is totally selfish and cynical about love. Symbolically she is always making fudge, but she controls who gets the sweet fudge in order to manipulate them.



The contrast between her and Lillian Gish's character continues when Powell is finally apprehended and is in jail awaiting execution. Icey Spoon leads the lynch mob out for revenge. Her self righteousness and religiosity has turned to violence and we realize that the reason she fell for the phony preacher is because she's a hypocrite herself, and when she turns to violence she reveals herself to be on the same level as Powell. Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish's character) on the other hand, simply gathers up the children and flees from the darkness of the criminal court, the murderer and the lynch mob.



Rachel Cooper is tough and uncompromising. But she is also tender, loving and generous. She is the true Christian, not taking any crap, but recognizing the goodness and strength of the children themselves. Her final words are not about the criminal Powell, but about the children. "They abide. They endure."



'Bout right, and unless you become like them you cannot enter the kingdom.

All Souls Day

from the SOMH archives




I was a young Anglican priest and, from my Evangelical background, still learning about the communion of the saints, All Saints' Day and All Souls. I found myself in a high church Anglican parish and for All Souls Day the choir always sang the Faure Requiem.



I was at the altar with the parish priest, concelebrating. I was aware that he was deep in prayer. As the choir sang the offertory I was praying and I suddenly 'saw' a kind of family tree. Drawn in black and white it was all straight lines with names with more straight lines going up and up until I couldn't count the names of my ancestors anymore. Then suddenly I 'saw' red fluid flowing down through the family tree.



It was as if the blood of Christ was flowing back down through all the generations in my family of 'black and white' puritanical Protestants. Good people and people with faith, but largely legalistic and often harsh and judgmental. I was quite moved and overwhelmed with the emotion of what I saw, for I had been praying for the healing of my family tree.



The offertory ended. The Mass went on. When we were finished, and were in the vestry disrobing the parish priest (who was also a former Baptist) said to me, "You know, I had an amazing experience at the altar during the offertory."



"What's that?" I asked.



"I felt like God was cleansing my entire family tree through the blood of Jesus. Amazing!"



I smiled..."Funny you should say that."

All Saints Day

Poking Fun

OK, on the Reformation Day post I was mocking the lesbian, Lutheran Swedish bishop who looks like a sofa out of Star Trek.



I try to keep the tone of the blog light--poking fun at those with whom I disagree, and not minding if they poke back. Nevertheless a regular (and awfully sober) reader was offended that I had mocked the lesbian Lutheran Swedish Star Trek sofa person.



I'm still not clear what he was offended by. Was it that I made fun of her dress sense, her sexual preference, her Protestantism or that she looked so, umm-- Swedish lesbian?



I'm not sure, but I wonder if any other readers get tired of the self righteous, playing the victim, "Ooooh. I'm sooo offended" stuff. After all, who really ought to be offended in this whole thing? Is it the Anglican and Lutheran feminist and homosexualists or the far greater number of ordinary, faithful Anglicans and Lutherans who have had their beautiful, ancient religion ripped from them by a minority of howling, passive aggressive activists?



Who should be offended here? What about the ordinary Moms and Dads who have to explain why "Uncle Vickie wants to marry Aunty Fred"? What about the ordinary families who discover that their children are being  subjected to mandatory 'sexual education' that tells ten year olds how to put on a condom to protect themselves during anal sex?



I could go on, but maybe once in a while the rest of us might be allowed the luxury of 'being offended.'

If Bankers Prayed More...

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What would the world be like if bankers had prayed more? Some time ago I wrote an article for Crisis magazine called The Practical Power of Public Prayer, and I quoted correspondence I had received from an Englishman who had worked for many years in the City of London--the financial center. He said, "When I began in banking almost 40 years ago, the head of our Investment Banking division each morning gathered his staff together and began the day with a prayer! This division was responsible for investing the bank's money. The prayer was not that they would make a 'killing' or rack up great profits for the bank. Rather it was that they would properly care for the bank's assets and discharge their duties to their savers and shareholders responsibly and for the common good."



The banker was, no doubt, a good solid Church of England layman. He was not a national leader leading the invocation at a civic event, but an ordinary layman with a simple faith who took his responsibilities seriously. He was courageous enough to lead his people in prayer and had enough faith to believe that his ordinary job was not only worthwhile, but had the capacity for great good if he, as in individual was an honest, hard working and Christian person.





Indeed his job (and his philosophy) was worthwhile. Putting aside the question of whether or not his prayer influenced the Almighty, the prayers influenced the people in the investment department. At the beginning of each day they re-assessed their reasons and questioned what they were about and realized that there was a moral dimension to their seemingly inconsequential jobs as bank clerks. Their superior leading them in prayer helped them to keep the filthy lucre they were dealing with in a proportionate place. If every Wall Street firm and every investment bank did the same every morning would we now be in financial meltdown? I doubt it.



Another benefit of such prayer is that it grants to all those who participate a new kind of dignity. The bankers who prayed with their division chief were thought worthy to pray with. The chief took them seriously. Furthermore, their jobs also suddenly had a new dimension of seriousness and dignity. They mattered and their jobs mattered, not only to their business boss, but also to the Big Boss. Think how society would change if every business started the day with prayer. What if the workers at Starbucks or Burger King or the local factory started their shift by praying with the boss? What if they prayed for each of their customers? what if they prayed for each other? Think of the benefits to the whole of society, for we cannot stay angry long with a colleague for whom we have prayed. We cannot cheat for long a boss with whom we have prayed. We cannot provide poor customer service for a person for whom we have prayed.



What would happen if bankers prayed more? What would happen if we all prayed more?

St Benedict and St Therese

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Why not treat yourself to a book about two wonderful saints for All Saints Day? I wrote St Benedict and St Therese--The Little Rule and the Little Way some years ago now. It considers the lives and teachings of these two great saints.



St Therese is the little child. St Benedict the wise old man. The first shows us the way of simplicity and innocence unspoiled. The second shows us the way of simplicity and innocence re-attained. Both saints advocate finding God within the everyday tasks of life, and both show us how to attain holiness by being true to who we are and where God has placed us at this time.