An Aid To Memory

In high school I used to always reflect on the end of different periods. Every Friday in my Academic planner I would summarize how the week went, and at the end of the year I would usually take a few spaces to sum it up as well, rating it on a scale of 1 to 10.

As I was thinking of blog topics I thought I would rate 2004 in the same way. 2004 was a pretty memorable year for me, and overall, a very good year. In the early months of the year I discerned that I was not called to the Anglican priesthood; I wasn’t even called to Anglicanism! I will always remember 2004 as the calm foil to the turbulent 2003, when Gene Robinson was consecrated as an Anglican bishop and I decided I could no longer remain in the Episcopal denomination (I thought for awhile Anglicanism might be an option). In 2004 I also ended two long-term and somewhat dysfunctional relationships. One with my ex-girlfriend of three years, and the other with the Anglican Communion. These two events make 2004 extremely memorable, probably more memorable than all the other years of this decade combined.

With the endings came some great new beginnings. I was confirmed a Catholic on August 14, 2004. This was the completion of almost six years of often desultory searching for my spiritual home. I also met Maria, finally finding that special someone whom I have dreamed of for a long time, but never really thought existed in the flesh. I guess 2004 is my year of coming home, and finding rest after wandering so long. Of course, my journey is only really just beginning. This makes 2004 a solid 8 or 9 by my high school planner standards. 2005 is looking bright as well, for reasons which I will detail after February.

Today (the first Sunday after Christmas) is the Feast of the Holy Family. The feast is relatively new, started in 1921, in order to promote and strengthen the modern family unit as we celebrate the family unit of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The addition of this feast to the Church Calendar was prophetic; the family unit is in even more disarray in 2004 than in 1921. Family usually takes a backseat to work and school, and those who pursue family first (such as stay-at-home moms or dads, or parents that take less prestigious jobs in order to spend more time at home) are often derided as slaves to an antiquated philosophy or just naive. The good news is that younger people, raised in the ruins of the sexual revolution and the culture of death, seem to be more traditional in their views of family. Raised without dads, attention, and stability, they have seen firsthand the damage caused by the selfish pursuit of money and pleasure to the exclusion of the family.

Remember this feast day: Family comes first! And just so you know, I am challenged by the message of this feast as well! Before I became Catholic I saw the idea of multiple children as somewhat of a burden, and while I wasn’t all for birth control, I was at least neutral to the idea and had planned to use it in marriage. It was the realization that my motivations for using birth control within marriage were purely selfish that made me rethink my views. Its use always went back to what birth control would allow me to do, and having my wife alter her hormonal make-up for my selfish whims, seemed, well, selfish. Also, when I was confronted with my future plans, graduate school and family, I realized that subconsciously grad school always took precedence. Family plans always revolved around my grad school plans, and not vice-versa. Confronting this very secular way of thinking was a major turning point in my life actually. Anyway, enough of my thoughts on the matter, Happy Holy Family!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is finally here! Merry Christmas to all my friends/readers. God bless all of you this glorious Nativity Feast. I hope you are all warm with family and friends.

In related news, the pope recently celebrated midnight Mass, saying that our troubled world needs Jesus more than ever. The holy father also prayed for peace, particularly in the Middle East. In a few hours I will be worshiping at the midnight Christmas Mass in my county.

Image: Hans Baldung Grien, The Nativity

I am returning after a break from blogging. My girlfriend Maria was visiting for 11 days, and just left for her home. We are looking into co-blogging and merging our blogs sometime in the near future, so check back every so often.

We had a great time during her visit, hanging out with Jonathan and Carmel, and visiting Niagara Falls, Ontario. We also prayed together regularly! We had a blast and took plenty of photos. It is so rare to meet someone as special as Maria, and I am extremely thankful that God (through Catholic Match) brought us together.

I was reading Matt Drudge today, and I came across two articles that interested me. The first is this article about gay "marriage" in Canada. The second is about a new Satanism and Exorcism Class being offered by a Catholic Seminary.

The first article is about Canada’s supreme court allowing the Canadian federal government to proceed and change the definition of marriage to a "lawful union of two persons" as opposed to "a lawful union of one man and one woman," thereby allowing the Canadian national government to undo thousands of years of cultural and moral tradition. Apparently civil unions are not good enough, and only full-blown "marriage" will do. At least clergy will not be required to perform the ceremonies unless they want to. Of note, even if a Catholic priest did perform such a ceremony, it could never be marriage, because the sacrament of marriage is only valid if done between a man and a woman.

The second article talks about the Vatican’s concern that the rise in interest in the occult needs to be confronted head-on. The Vatican asserts that "Satan is still at work." The exorcism class will help prepare priests to confront the age-old problem of evil.

In these articles we see two world-views at work. The former, secular and "progressive," the latter, religious and "traditional." The Canadian decision is the logical conclusion of relativism, the Vatican class more reminiscent of a Biblical or Medieval world view. I am sure many who have fought for gay marriage in Canada are mystified that anybody can believe in demons, evil, and Satan, whereas many Catholics (and Muslims, Jews, and other Christians) are shocked that anybody would seriously consider changing the thousands-of-years-old definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. These two articles show the huge difference in worldviews that currently exists, and the differences will probably be even more pronounced in the future. Where do I fall? Well, if it is between unfettered relativistic (post)modernism or a so-called "medieval" worldview, I actually choose the latter, although I am probably just a postmodern shaped by Church Tradition, which includes elements usually associated  in the secular mind with bygone eras.

The Immaculate Conception is celebrated today, December 8th. In the United States this solemnity is a holy day of obligation (i.e. Catholics are required to attend Mass). It is the day the Church remembers the conception of Mary, Jesus’ mother. This was no ordinary conception, as the term "immaculate" indicates, but rather one fitting of the future bearer of Jesus Christ the God-Man. In other words, the bearer of God knew no sin so as to taint her person, making her a fitting "new ark," to bear God in human form. In the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus in 1854, Pope Pius IX officially defined the dogma this way: Mary was "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin." Keep in mind Pope Pius IX did not invent the dogma, but was making official an idea that had long-existed in the Church, both East and West.

This is one Church Teaching that troubles many non-Catholics, because it teaches that Mary is sinless, and that she was sinless since her conception. The Orthodox and Catholics only disagree as to when Mary was made sinless. The Orthodox say Mary was made immaculate when she said "yes" to God’s call. Thus, no Christian from a historical Church doubts Mary was a sinless vehicle for God-Made-Man; they disagree as to the exact details. Protestants tend to reject the idea that God needed a sinless bearer of his Son. Either way, the Immaculate Conception is a dogma that divides Catholics from others. However, I believe it is still a rich and important dogma that gives honor to the Mother of God, and hence, honor to Jesus Christ, and I was proud to celebrate it for the first time today (and last night at the vigil Eucharist).

Charles has a prayer for this feast here.

Image from: http://theology.shu.edu/graduate.htm

I have taken the GRE! Thank God that is over. My mind has been swirling with so many GRE words that I give blank looks when someone speaks common English to me. Well, it’s not that bad, but the night before the GRE someone asked me my age and I said "28." My brother had to gently remind me that I was only 26. I can define "obstreperous" but can’t remember my age. This means I’ll fit in at most grad schools!

Anyway, I did very well. I am not bragging, and I absolutely hate the competition among grad students who share their scores on tests as a means to feel better about themselves, even though they feign humility. You’ll just have to take my word that I am not trying to brag or one-up anybody. I mention my performance because many in cyberspace have been concerned and have offered their prayers. My verbal score was in the 700s (the most important score for my field) and my Quantitative score was in the 600s, 100 less than my Verbal. The writing portion won’t be graded for a few weeks. I am pleased, and thank you for your prayers.

I am still not convinced the GRE tells us much of anything. Perhaps it means I have a knack for comprehending writers who purposely use big words when they don’t have to? That always comes in handy. Well, joking aside, I think the GRE serves some purpose, but a 120 dollar purpose…I am not sure.

Note: the image is from http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/images/gre/thirds.gif, and is a photo of the GRE’s practice software. I did not bring a camera into the testing center!!!