7-24-07
Greetings!
We often hear that "Mass is boring" or "it's the same thing every week", etc. Besides the fact that Mass wouldn't be "boring" for someone who actually understood what takes place….(is it ever "boring" or the "same old thing" to hear your spouse say 'I love you'?")
Rituals, of which the Mass is the highest form, follow a specific pattern, and by virtue of it, allow us to enter into mysteries deeper then ourselves. Indeed, of our own volition, we are generally incapable of entering into such depth.
Fr. Neuhaus, in the latest edition of First Things, quotes a beautiful reflection on how this happens. In this selection, it is a man who, in spite of his own weakness, is able through the Mass to go deeper. Read it, enjoy it, ponder it.
It is called "A Father's Story," and along the way the narrator has this to say about attending daily Mass: "At St. John's, Father Paul and five or six regulars and I celebrate the Mass. Do not think of me as a spiritual man whose every thought during those twenty-five minutes is at one with the words of the Mass. Each morning I try, each morning I fail, and know that always I will be a creature who, looking at Father Paul and the altar, and uttering prayers, will be distracted by scrambled eggs, horses, the weather, and memories and daydreams that have nothing to do with the sacrament I am about to receive. I can receive, though: the Eucharist, and also, at Mass and at other times, moments and even minutes of contemplation. But I cannot achieve contemplation, as some can; and so, having to face and forgive my own failures, I have learned from them both the necessity and wonder of ritual. For ritual allows those who cannot will themselves out of the secular to perform the spiritual, as dancing allows the tongue-tied man a ceremony of love." Think about it.
Source: First Things, Aug/Sept. 2007 Issue, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.
Phil's Tidbits:
Philip Jenkins is a professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University who specializes in a little bit of everything. His comments on the future of Christianity in Europe are interesting. Numerous articles have commented on the loss of a Christian culture at the political, academic, and elite levels of society. Yet, at least among the "commoners", perhaps there is to be a resurgence? Recall that's how Christianity was first spread.
Your latest book is about the religious future of Europe. How thoroughly has institutional Christianity collapsed there?
There are a lot of Christians in Europe and there's a lot of Christian sentiment remaining. If you talk about institutional, organized Christianity, it's in deep trouble, but there's still a lot left. The evidence I use for that is things like pilgrimages, which are at an all-time high.
Were you able to find a rough number of Europeans that go on pilgrimages?
I can't do it because so many of them are serial pilgrims. They are people who go to Lourdes and then Nock and so on. If you assume that there about a half billion notionally Christian people in Europe, about 75 million would be pretty dedicated, pretty devoted, pretty hard core.
I was recently at a presentation where the speaker was talking about the prevalence of pornography on the internet. He mentioned that when going to his favorite internet weather site, he was confronted with a big ad for Victoria's Secret. As he stated, "What in the world does Victoria's Secret have to do with the weather?!" Indeed.
One in 25 Youth Internet Users are Requested to Send Sexual Pictures of Themselves
By Elizabeth O'Brien
DURHAM, New Hampshire, Friday, July 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A national study, recently release by the University of New Hampshire's Crimes against Children Research Center (CCRC), states that one in 25 youth who use the internet are requested to send sexual images of themselves.
Published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the study is entitled "Online Requests for Sexual Pictures from Youth: Risk Factors and Incident Characteristics." The study made a phone survey of 1,500 Internet users aged 10 to 17 across the United States for one year.
The study stems from a larger study by Research Center in 2000. The purpose of this first study was to verify media reports about the numbers of children exposed to Internet pornography and online sexual harassment. The second study was carried out in order to compare notes with the first and see if there had been any changes in the numbers.
Dr. Kimberly Mitchell, lead author of the study told LifeSiteNews.com that the number of sexual solicitations (defined as unwanted "requests to engage in sexual activities or sexual talk or to give personal sexual information" or "whether wanted or not, made by an adult") decreased from 19% to 13% since the 2000 study. During the intervening years, she noted, a lot of effort was expended in increasing towards Internet safety.
The study showed an increase, however, from 6% to 9% in online harassment, defined as "threats or other offensive behavior".
Unwanted exposure to pornography also increased during the interim.
The study also notes, "Although a true estimate of the extent of child pornography available on the Internet is difficult to determine, one national study of Internet sex crimes against minors revealed an estimated 1,713 arrests involving the possession of child pornography in the United States in the year after July 1, 2000."
The CCRC study also indicated that girls, particularly "female black youth", have a higher level of risk. Moreover, incidents were more likely to occur when the child received sexual images from someone older than 18 who contacted them offline.
"I think the big thing we're trying to tell people," Mitchell told LifeSiteNews.com, "is that we need to start talking to kids more directly rather than just going to the parents. We find that a small group of kids-kids with high conflict with their parents or who are sexually abused-are consistently more likely to report these on-line incidents. We think we need to find more creative ways to reach this higher risk population."
Commenting on the age of the study group, Mitchell stated, "It makes sense because the Internet is so part of kids' lives." She also described them as being curious and interested in romance and relationships at that stage. She added, however, "We think that overall most kids are pretty savvy when it comes to the Internet."
The study further underlines this point, saying that most kids have a "fairly sophisticated understanding of the social complexities of the Internet…by the time they reach early adolescence. However, if only a small percentage cooperate, considering such requests flattering, glamorous, adventuresome, or testament of their love and devotion, this could be a major contribution to the production of illegal material."….
You know you're a hardcore Catholic if….(final edition)
-You mentally correct every textbook use of "BCE" and CE" with "Before Christ" and "Anno Domini". You also mentally capitalize every written use of the word "God' and "Mass"
-you find that praying the rosary is a good way to pass the time (espesially at work)
-if you are tired of people referring to the birth of Jesus the immaculate conception
-you've ever been told my your mom, "Offer it up", and then felt very obliged to do so
-when discussing possible names for your future children with friends or your future spouse, you start ruling out names that aren't virtues, saints, or biblical
-you've ever thought it would be fun to read the CCC as if it were a novel
-when you hear someone's name read off, you think in your head "pray for us"
-you've ever ruled out dating someone because they weren't Catholic
you might be Catholic if...
you start to genuflect when you go to sit down at a movie...
-you tell other people your last name, they begin spouting off names of people that you are probably related too. <Oh that's my dad's uncle's cousin. Which probably makes us related...>
-You hold office hours at the Catholic Center/Catholic Student Center/Newman Center.
-You and your roommates have scheduled "spiritual nights" to discuss whatever issues of faith that are on your mind that week.
-You think getting a S.T.D. is cool... (S.T.D.= Doctorate of Sacred Theology)
-you held a pope party (complete with papal flag, and German beer) for the election of the B XVI (it was a Tuesday night).
-When you tell the someone who your favorite musical artists are they have NO IDEA who you are talking about
-When you hear the word Madonna, you think of the Blessed Virgin, not the song "Like a Virgin."
-Instead of change, you find a rosary under your couch cushions.
-when you've said the rosary outside a Planned Parenthood in protest with a Respect Life group
-You look at this list and laugh really hard, b/c you know it's so true
-you have at one point had to stop a younger sibling from playing in the holy water font.
Note the next issue of the Areopagus will come out at the end of August. Have a blessed rest of the summer!
God bless you! Phil Lawson For the latest info on St. Peter's, check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com (You can also find old editions of the Areopagus here)
The Areopagus is a regular email for adults that includes various reflections, tidbits, news and events. Hope you find it fruitful!
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