Renewal Through the Confessional

1. The Times, once again with the tone of mild incredulity that you would associate with viewing the quaint customs of a lost tribe in a distant continent, reports on the revitalization of a parish in Stamford, CT, that centers on the Confessional. Of course, they follow the inevitable journalistic ritual of communing with the spirit of the ludicrous Richard McBrien, who informs us from the great beyond of revisionist "Catholicism" that Confession is a "dead letter" for Catholics nowadays. It certainly is, for those with deadened souls. My favorite line is the comment by the reporter on how real Confession separates us from our popular Oprah-fied culture, which is "relentlessly confessional and rarely contrite". Precisely.

2. Pope Benedict addressed the Pontifical Academy for Life on the theme of genetics and the danger of eugenics. He warned of genetic discrimination and reasserted a truth that all scientists should bear in mind: "Every human being, then, is much more than a singular combination of genetic information that is transmitted to him by his parents. The generation of man can never be reduced to the mere reproduction of a new individual of the human species, as is the case with all other animals. Every appearance of a person in the world is always a new creation."

3. At some point, Prof. Kmiec will sit down and be quiet, but in the meantime his absurd self-justifying ramblings have now reached the point of being openly critical of the Holy Father; he claims that the Holy Father's instruction to Madame Speaker of the obligation of Catholic public officials to defend human life intrudes upon the civic duties of judges. One benefit of this is to remind us, as St. Ignatius did in the Spiritual Exercises, that all Catholics, even Catholic lawyers and judges, must choose between the Two Standards -- the banner of Christ or the banner of Satan. So which will you be loyal to, Professor -- the law of Christ or the law of the Supreme Court? Choose wisely.

4. Uh, okay. The headline is "Catholic Denomination Says Gay Priests Are OK". The article asks the question, "will such rogue religious groups ever be recognized by the papacy?" Since the ghost of the laughable Richard McBrien wasn't available to be contacted by Ouija board, I'll fill in. Let me think for a minute. Okay, I'll go out on a limb on this one and guess "no".

5. Here's a re-release of an excellent article about the political impact of the spread of pornography, particularly interesting for its discussion of the social effects of unregulated Eros, namely, -- the dehumanization of others. You may recall that the first part of Pope Benedict's Deus Caritas Est deals with the need for Eros to be married with Agape for love to have its true meaning.

6. The Archdiocese of St. Louis, which is awaiting the appointment of their own new Archbishop, is giving people the option of signing up for a text message to their cell phones when the announcement is made. I didn't get a text message this morning, but here's the official press release from 1011 about our new Archbishop. Please pray for Archbishop Dolan, and for Cardinal Egan.