7 Quick Takes 7/25/13

For more quick takes, see Jennifer Fulwiler's excellent blog at www.conversiondiary.com.

Ever notice how your tastes change as you age?  Faith, too, changes as time goes on; for me, I guess I assumed this was true but didn't always notice it.  I really notice it now!  I'd be afraid to grade myself on a scale of fervency, but I try to do my best.  As I'm trying to be the best version of myself (make sure to say that with an Australian accent), I'm becoming less and less patient with least-common-denominator Catholicism.  Here are my quick takes along this theme...

1) Bland homilies are more frustrating than anything else, and priests/laity who take liberties with the liturgy make my blood boil.  I didn't notice it as much as I do now, and I'm only partially surprised that it's everywhere.  I do believe we've lost a sense of what's sacred in the Catholic Church over the past fifty years; I think we need to ease ourselves back into solemnity because to go straight up Tridentine would be a shock.  Could we start with using Latin in the Mass parts?  Get better music, too.  Then move to ad orientem.  Then maybe more prayers in Latin.  Bit by bit... 

2) On the more positive side of the coin, a good fruit is that I've been listening more to Catholic radio.  For the past week or so, my drive to and from work has either featured a talk, homily, or podcast in the morning and Catholic Answers Live in the evening.  Catholic Answers Live is on iTunes, they have every show in podcast format... although they don't skip the commercials.  Want a good homily to listen to?  Absolutely check out Fr. Robert Barron (Word on Fire podcast) and Fr. Gary Zerr ("Weekly Sermons from St. Edward Catholic Church - Keizer, OR" podcast).  

3) I just finished one of the Catholic Courses on the Book of Revelation; it was a series of 8 talks/classes given by Fr. Alfred McBride, OPraem.  Highly recommended!  Check it out here.  The Book of Revelation was always intimidating to me; the imagery is very strange to 21st Century American eyes.  Fr. McBride demystifies it, gives the background, and draws good spiritual lessons from the book.  Hopefully it will be a future blog post.

4) Speaking of things traditional and Latin, the William Byrd Festival is coming to Portland next month.    Check out the calendar of events here.  I went to Mass at St. Stephen's last year with my wife; Cantores in Ecclesia sang Byrd's Mass for Four Voices.  I don't know how to describe it other than I was literally overwhelmed with beautiful music.  Had it not been Mass, I would've sat there, drooling, mouth agape, eyes glazed over, being carried away by angelic music.  Maybe that's a little much, since my wife would refuse to go out in public with me if I even approached that kind of behavior.

5) My wife recently finished The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn and is in the process of going through Fr. Mitch Pacwa's talk series on the Eucharist.  I'd read/heard both before and after I finished, I wished every Catholic could read that book and listen to that talk series.  No one could complain about Mass being boring after that!  My wife felt the same--and I wondered, why hadn't we heard this when we were younger?  Going through sacramental prep?  Shoot, from the pulpit?

6) The funny thing about getting more immersed in the faith... it only leaves you wanting more.  We've been saying the rosary mostly daily; I've been reading more Scripture; listening to Catholic radio/CDs.  I love a particular sports talk radio show, I download the podcasts nearly every day and listen to them at work.  I used to listen to them on the drive to/from work; now I can't.  It's a funny feeling that, I guess I feel like it's a waste of time.  Almost like I'm cheating myself if I don't listen to something life-giving.

I didn't ever think I'd feel that.  The saints talk about detachment from the world, and here, I can accomplish this eensy bit of detachment!  They fasted, did penance, suffered greatly, and me?  I don't listen to that podcast in the car.  After 34 years... hope I'm further along in another 34 years.  And, I'm not so disciplined that I can't fall out of these habits...

7) Did you know Scott Hahn's website (www.salvationhistory.com) has free Bible studies?  There are outlines/courses as well as talk series on .mp3.  I haven't listened to any yet, but it's exciting to know there's good, free stuff out there.  

Saint Joan of Arc, Flower of France

Sometime while I was in college, there was a brief craze of movies about St. Joan of Arc.  That is, if you count a T.N.T. miniseries starring Leelee Sobieski and a terrible movie starring Milla Jovovich.  The miniseries was decent, and Leelee Sobieski was a pretty good fit for the role.  The movie, called "The Messenger," portrayed St. Joan as a charlatan who invented her visions & voices in order to seek revenge on the violent death of her sister.  I have very little good things to say about it and it angers me that the reputation of such a great saint was defamed.

No matter.  What prompts me to write about St. Joan is a book written by French historian Regine Pernoud.  So much has been written on St. Joan's condemnatory trial--but since that was technically an ecclesiastical trial (however twisted and politically motivated it was), St. Joan had to be "rehabilitated" (as Pernoud calls it) from being a relapsed heretic.  In terms of ink, nobody who writes about St. Joan seems to care about the rehabilitation trial!  Before Pernoud's book, I don't know if there was anything written in English on the subject... only in French.   

Pernoud's The Retrial of Joan of Arc: The Evidence for Her Vindication covers the trial that occurred twenty-five years after her death.  Many witnesses from the trial were still alive, including those that passed judgment on her.  Witnesses from all parts of St. Joan's life were called to testify to her character; her mother, childhood friends, her soldiers, priests, and bishops.  In reading this book, I gained a great appreciation for St. Joan.  She is commonly known for her military exploits, but that's not what made her a saint!

The testimony of the witnesses was overwhelming.  All described her as a kind, thoughtful girl.  She participated in the sacraments as often as she could.  She was widely held to be a good Catholic in word and deed.  

Her time as a soldier was also marked by sanctity.  She held a high standard for herself, but also expected the same for those around her.  Soldiers knew not to take the name of the Lord in vain around her; she chewed out many a man for doing so.  Prostitutes were not allowed in the camps and were literally chased away if they tried to join the camp.  More than one soldier noticed an odd thing about her great chastity: they lost the ability to lust after women when around her.  

We speak in hushed tones, respecting the heck out of mystics like St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and many others.  Don't forget that St. Joan was a mystic, too!  Her voices and visions were a privilege afforded to very few.  A simple, illiterate farm girl from Domremy, one of the least by worldly standards.  

As St. Joan was tied to the stake and the fire stoked, she cried out to Jesus, begging him for mercy.  One of the bishops present wept openly and bitterly.  One of the English soldiers, who boasted that he'd  personally bring the fuel for her burning, witnessed St. Joan's execution.  He, too, was moved to tears and went to confession immediately after St. Joan's death.  

Let's remember that the Church declared her a saint for possessing a rare quality of holiness--not for being popular, not for being a military hero.