Furthermore…

Kid with radio to friend:

“No, it’s not a Christian talk show. It’s a listen show!”

This expression in Jesus’ little example about the persons knocking on the master’s door being told to go away even though they protested that they had eaten and drank with him is thought provoking. I surfed around ysterday trying to find a knowlegeable gloss on this verse without result. But then Fr. Mitch in his homily for the Daily Mass on EWTN had something to say about it. He mentioned that it was drawn from a formula used by the rabbis to excommunicate. Father distinuished between those who struggle and strive to please God in their lives, versus those who merely hang around, not making themselves known to Him in a meaningful way, so that He knows ‘where they come from.’

Our everyday parlance includes phrases suggestively close to the one in question. We ask “where are you coming from?” when someone’s line of thought seems obscure, and “I know where you are going with that” when we intuit someone’s direction of thought before it is expressed completely.

And then, I don’t hear it anymore, but comedians used to use the phrase “from hunger” in referring to something declasse. Maybe its from Yiddish.

One church maintenance man to other as they look at birds frolicking in holy water font:

“I think that new holy water font was made out of an old birdbath!”

I think I wrote about this before, but I am fascinated by the mental processes which go into deciding how to vote. Mental, but not necessarily rational or logical. The first thing I remember in this connection was the pundits disclosing that women voted for candidates according to their physical appearance and impressiveness, what is now subsumed, I guess, under the term ‘charisma.’ .
This election year there seems to be a heavy lining up of Black people anxious to vote for “their” candidate, a kind of selection by identification, just as ‘regular folks’ seem ready to opt for the lady governor of Alaska on the basis of her folksiness.
Not so much as in past theres, there still are large numbers of party faithful who see elections through Party eyes, died in the wool Republicans and Democrats. They’ll trot out old saws about the characteristics of the two parties, us being right, and them being wrong. Reminds one of the Balkans and Ireland.
Notable in this line of analysis is how little congruence there is between these ways of thinking and the way the Church urges us to approach the decision making process. It reminds me of the papable of the sower, where some of the seed fell on rocky ground and the birds of the air came along and ate it. The Catholic advice just sits on the surface of people’s minds, and doesn’t take root. The media, the people all about, and old ways of oing things correspond to the dirty birds.

Delivery man to pair of eyes peeking out from behind door of Ye Olde Pornography Makers:

“I just need someone to sign for this shipment of millstones and neck harnesses!”

One of the members of our faith sharing group pointed out that our pastor now has ‘Very Reverend’ as part of his signature, and wondered what this signifies. I usually know about such matters but in this case had to confess it was beyond me. Wouldn’t ‘Rather Reverend’ be rather more redolent of respectability? Someone else suggested it is like being part way to becoming a monsignor, but I allowed that such is not the case, and began delving into a copy of the

Catechism of the Catholic Church

while the discussion went ahead apace. Discussion then wandered into the question of by whom or how bishops are named. Somehow I felt led, perhaps it was because of something I saw in the

Catechism

, to aver that the Pope names them, then later adjusted my story to say he might only approve someone else’s nomination, you know, more or less, so to speak.

Elizabethan Protestant Judge to constable about prisoner in stocks:

“What! You say he’s only a rapist? Cancel the death sentence! I thought you said he was a Papist!”

I’ve gotten to like using the Prayer After Meals* that I learned as a kid as a general prayer of thanks. It doesn’t actually mention food, meals, or such, and so applies to almost any situation where giving thanks is appropriate or desired. I even find using it enriching as part of my thanksgiving after receiving the Eucharist. And it is more than just a prayer of thanks; it also includes a petition that God show mercy to the Poor souls.

*We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, Almighty God, and may the souls of the faithful departed, through Thy mercy God, rest in peace. Amen.

Priest to kid with head of curly hair arriving to serve Mass:

“First and foremost, are you a boy or a girl?”

A Multiply Catholic Friends group member called our attention to this 1859 passage by the English novelist Dinah Craik in her book A Life for a Life:

“Oh! the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one’s deepest as well as one’s most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely. Oh, the comfort–the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person–having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.”

How rare that would be, if indeed it ever happened! That passage should be taught and discussed in schools. Not that it is good to agree with and accept everything a person says, but to accept the person and consider the circumstances which gave rise to the thoughts might provide the lacking lubricant responsible for the disaffected friction that dominates so many familiar relationships.