Furthermore…

2 panel
1967 – hippies ragging on returning GI’s yelling “Baby Killers!”

Today – hippies turned abortion supporters yelling at Pro Life picketers “It’s legal – so what if if kills babies?!”

I come across a lot of material stating a Catholic perspective on issues. I usually already agree with what is presented, but I feel that the arguments would be on stronger ground if they included a thumbnail (”dumbnail”) outline of the reasoning and beliefs that are held by the bunch being argued against. Aquinas did this: Bishop Sheen once said that St. Thomas Aquinas would do a better and more persuasive job of stating his opponents’ case than they did themselves. Some of the positions we oppose are so riddled with holes that stating them succinctly could only enhance our own. But beyond that, the readership or audience is left up in the air with a mental uncertainty of what is “the other side of the coin.” Nothing so focuses a judge’s mind as seeing both arguments side by side.

Pastor from pulpit:

“Those who can’t get your cell phones shut off before Mass can stop at the church office and trade them for ones with hymn ring tones!”

Our church was remodeled a while back. They put in some beautiful new stained glass windows which depict the Stations of the Cross. The entrance doors were also outfitted with stained glass scenes in the life of our patron saint. But I recently heard from a couple of good parishioners that several of the stained glass creations have been damaged. The damage which I have been able to verify for myself is on the doors. Although there a sturdy bars across the doors with which to push them open when exiting, it would appear that unthinking persons have pushed the door open by shoving on the stained glass with their hands, ignoring or uncomprehending of the fact that there are bars built into the doors on which to push in order to wing them open. The doors are fairly heavy, so a hand pushing on the glass must concentrate some considerable force against it, sufficient to crack some of the pieces leaded in place. It reminds me of the old maxim, “If anything CAN go wrong, it WILL!” Or as I found out working in a public service agency, anything used by the public suffers heavy wear and stress. Same for anything used by kids. Ditto dimwits.
Oops – must not offend dimwits!

Voice coming from confessional of old priest:

“Speak up! You did WHAT? … … With WHO? … … How many TIMES??

I happened to catch a TV show on one of the religious channels about a week ago that had ‘Music from God’ as its topic. An Israeli teacher of Hebrew, Uri Harel, held a belief that the Bible contained music, in keeping with an old Jewish tradition about the Hebrew letters somehow playing a part in the creation of the world by God.
A project was initiated whereby a musical note was associated with each Hebrew letter, and then certain passages in the Bible were converted into sequenced notes and arranged into music that was then performed and recorded.
Just as there is a tradition that certain of the Psalms in Hebrew have a healing effect when listened to, so do people hearing the results of the letters-notes-music project report experiencing a calming effect. The associated website is

Sign in front of Catholic church:

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A CAFETERIA

3 BLOCKS EAST & ENJOY YOUR MEAL

I hope to cure the world some day if all its harmful fears,
And bring together people now distant beyond tears.
All around the globe are mouths sore in need of food,
And lonely people holding back the smiles and the good.
Leaders keep them docile, instead of guiding on,
And no one knows the purpose of this endless trail we wind.
I thought I knew the answer once, and all the pieces fit:
But just as quickly as it came, I lost the sight of it.
My spirit is a child yet, reluctant that it grow,
And promptings are the most so far it ever has to show.
But strong aggressive voices turn most people off
And spiritual suggestions are best promoted soft.

Short altar server having trouble reaching and extinguishing tall candle:

“Out, out, brief candle!”

I’ve started a quest for Rosary music, initially thinking in terms of finding a composer to write background music for praying the Rosary. For each of the 20 Mysteries, there would have to be background music styled to agree with the mood or emotional associations of that Mystery, such as glory for the Resurrection, struggle for Carrying the Cross, joy for the Birth of the Lord, and reverence for The Institution of the Eucharist.

Now, instead of trying to find a composer, I am convinced that music written for the movies would nicely fill the bill. The art of adding music to movies in order to enhance viewers’ feelings during a particular scene has been developed to a high state of excellence in the film-making world. I am thinking it all is “in the can.”

So the next stage of this quest will be to solicit suggestions, from anyone interested, of movie music selections well suited to being played along with each of the Mysteries, music that will serve to deepen and enrich the Rosary prayer experience.

There are already productions in audio, video, and on web sites to accompany praying the Rosary, often including music of some sort, but I haven’t come across any having music such as I am seeking, such as would tend to establish and convey feelings allied with the scenes within the Mysteries.